Musings on Religionless Christianity

My thoughts on this topic were stirred by an amazing sermon by Landon Saunders at this year's ACU Lectureship. Landon (whom I've never met but is a good friend of some good friends) spoke of the pivotal time in his ministry when he decided to base his ministry on the "outside." Landon spoke of taking the gospel out of the hands of the religious brokers and placing it in the hands of the outsider. But to do this Landon said he needed to gain the confidence of the outsider. Landon observed that the first thing one has to do to gain credibility on the outside is to "speak the truth about religion." Whatever religionless Christianity is it is this: It pitches its tent on the outside and speaks frankly about the failures of religion.

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From How (Not) to Speak of God concerning the Costa-Gavras film Amen (pp. 63-64):

The film explores the failure of the Catholic and Protestant Churches when confronted with the terror of the death camps during the Second World War. We are presented with two religious figures, a Protestant youth pastor and a Catholic priest...The response of the priest is of particular interest. At one point he wonders aloud to the Cardinal whether it would be possible for every Christian in Germany to convert to Judaism in order to stop the horror, for the Nazis couldn't possibly condemn such a huge number of powerful and socially integrated people at that stage of the war. The idea is, of course, utterly rejected. Then, in complete frustration, and with a crushing sense of obligation towards the persecuted, the priest takes his own advice. In tears he turns from that which he loves more than life itself--his own faith tradition--and becomes a Jew. By taking on the Jewish identity he suffers with the persecuted, voluntarily taking his place on the trains that run to Auschwitz.

For this priest, the singularity of the horror required an unprecedented action, one which cut at the heart of his tradition. It was his very tradition (or rather his interpretation of that tradition) that demanded that he should give up that tradition...The most powerful way for this priest to affirm his Christianity is to lay it down...And so this priest gives up his Christianity precisely in order to retain his Christianity.

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A recent comment I left on my friend Chris Heard's blog:
I sometimes wonder if the most Christian act I can muster is the rejection of Christianity. To reject Christianity in the name of Christ as it were.

If so, I guess I’d be a Christian atheist.

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My favorite parts from Bonhoeffer's letters (some slightly edited):

People as they are now simply cannot be religious anymore.

Those who are "religious" don't act up to it.

"Christianity" has always been a form of religion.

Are there religionless Christians?

How do we speak of God without religion?

Is religion a condition of salvation?

I'm reluctant to mention God by name to religious people.

The church stands in the middle of the village.

To be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a particular way.

Live in the godless world without attempting explain its ungodliness in some religious way.

Live a "secular" life.

The Christian is simply a man, as Jesus was a man.